News

Software solutions and data analytics form synergy in AMI deployment

Stephanie Wu – senior analyst of Omdia smart buildings and energy infrastructure – writes on the new era of approaching software-defined solutions, citing its debut with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications in developed markets.


In their recently published 2022 AMI Software and Services Report, Omdia explicates the trends in software-defined solutions as well as utilities’ expectations for top cybersecurity and high interoperability standards in those given solutions. They also delve into the evolving and increasingly competitive market landscape. As demand for additional use cases of meter data creates new market opportunities, this has become more central to the AMI supplier business model of tomorrow.


Software adoption and managed services in the metering market

Electricity has the highest installed base of communicating meters with the greatest adoption of head-end software (HES).


Over 90% of installed electricity communicating meter endpoints adopted HES by the end of 2021, which was nearly double the adoption rate of water.


Complex feature set requirements and analytics requirements for electricity have been pushing more demand for AMI, as electricity is not only about the energy supply. It is a different structure seeing new emerging local demand to integrate electric vehicle (EV) charging, local (power) generation, solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps, among others. The complexity is much higher than seen in gas or water.


Despite the lower quantities of software in general, water utilities have the highest ratio of managed services of adopted software of all the sectors, primarily driven by its smaller scale and limited budget.


The need for managed services often starts from the wastewater end, followed by the commercial/ industrial (C/I) and then the residential.


The investment on gas lags behind both electricity and water. The constraints are varied across environmental protection requirements, energy reserves and geopolitics. In the long run, gas will eventually be phased out, which has resulted in limited efforts to upgrade infrastructure.


Regional demand for AMI

North America, especially the United States, has for years been engaged in the ‘smart analytics market’. Customers in the region are more willing to pay for software and solutions compared to those in Europe, where there is a strong pressure on cost. Even within Western Europe, the AMI deployment still varies from country to country.


For example, AMI demand in Germany is relatively nascent. The primary use cases at this stage are for data reading frequency and billing purposes. The Nordics, however, from a regulatory perspective, have to reduce temperature in the networks.


From a regulatory perspective, the Nordics provide an interesting use case. Temperature reduction is called for to ensure their systems operate as efficiently as possible. And to stay compliant with regulations, utilities need more granular data from more sophisticated analytical tools. Some are even looking for automated processes to communicate between AMI and SCADA, with features supporting intelligent parameter adjustment.


browse:
ONLINE BOOKING
Get the latest price?We’ll respond as soon as possible(within 24 hours)